Do you play any other Pinball Games besides ZEN PINBALL(2)? :o or will ya???

[RabidShark]

I would play a lot more of Pinball Arcade if they'd just get their game together. The camera modes are awful, the basic menu system and interface feels like something from 1985, you can't reassign things like which touch screen you're using, or button controls, and it's just all around so clunky and unpolished (switching between portrait and landscape mode only working before games, for example, compared to how ZP2 does it effortlessly at any time), it drives me away again every time I boot it up. Not to mention practically every update they have then forces you to wait for two more updates so they can fix whatever they just broke with the first one.

It just feels like Farsight has become a cell phone game company that dabbles in real game systems, when it should really be the other way around. It's too bad, considering how long it took them to finally get a playable engine, that they then turned around tossed all quality control out the window. It drives me crazy, because they've really got a lot of cool tables, and I'd love to get more new tables for any pinball game that aren't just octopus-esque rampfests, which seems to be the only thing Zen is still interested in producing these days.

i have to agree with you a little on this i am hoping that the pc version will be much better it drives me away at times as well, flipper lag drives me crazy.. medieval madness has several problems like ball through flipper bug and the right side wire ramp does not slow down the ball at all when dropping on the playfield also ball feels like rockets at times i am hoping future updates will fix this stuff and the problem is i love pinball arcade its a difficult situation

Edit: look at these videos this guy put up this is what we have to deal with at the moment :P Multiball Glitch still remains

http://pinballarcadefans.com/showthread.php/2315-Multiball-Glitch-on-every-Table-and-Black-Hole-Glitch

also a valid conversation here and video proof

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6C3qxPqKwY

[Thirdrail]

I would play a lot more of Pinball Arcade if they'd just get their game together. The camera modes are awful, the basic menu system and interface feels like something from 1985, you can't reassign things like which touch screen you're using, or button controls, and it's just all around so clunky and unpolished (switching between portrait and landscape mode only working before games, for example, compared to how ZP2 does it effortlessly at any time), it drives me away again every time I boot it up. Not to mention practically every update they have then forces you to wait for two more updates so they can fix whatever they just broke with the first one.

It just feels like Farsight has become a cell phone game company that dabbles in real game systems, when it should really be the other way around. It's too bad, considering how long it took them to finally get a playable engine, that they then turned around tossed all quality control out the window. It drives me crazy, because they've really got a lot of cool tables, and I'd love to get more new tables for any pinball game that aren't just octopus-esque rampfests, which seems to be the only thing Zen is still interested in producing these days.

[Rafie]

Honestly I partake in all of them. I won't just choose one if I had to. Although I do like Zen the best out of all, I still enjoy other pinball platforms.

[Trollwart]

They're all pretty good. The floaty-ness of PBA was annoying at first, but it is what those machines are like. I think Zen has the most potential...I think the warring philosophy between realism and fantasy is good (one of the better threads from a while back)...in fact, I think they should push even harder in each direction.
I like the Gamprom tables as well, cool board ideas and some clever concepts...I guess that's just phone and pad based, though...

[RabidShark]

ya cant vote i have Zen 2, Future pinball, pinball arcade, and soon to be in my list Pro Pinball bottom line if your into pinball you will and should have them all

"LONG LIVE PINBALL"

[Piccalilli]

I play both ZP2 and TPA, and I love them both for what they each bring to the table. TPA gives me the chance to experience classic tables, many of which were around in my childhood (though I missed out on almost all of them... only played a few games of real pinball in my life). Zen gives me the chance to play tables that couldn't exist outside of the videogame medium. Because they don't need to be quarter drainers to turn a profit in an arcade, Zen can concentrate on fun gameplay and bringing pinball to a whole new group of potential fans. Arcade gaming evolved into many different forms of games after moving to consoles and computers. I'd much rather see different branches of virtual pinball evolve successfully in videogames than see the genre become stifled.

[Casio]

Play both Pinball Arcade and Zen 2. Each have their differences both good games.

[Geddon]

Although I dig all the Zen tables I love Medieval Madness on pinball arcade.

The constant dopamine feedback from Medieval Madness is just so perfect. All of the zen tables are so sedate in comparison. (to varying degrees)

Play a game of MM and then play any zen table. Makes the zen tables feel so blah. Zen tables are still fun, just not very exciting gameplay when compared to MM.

I guess a lot of the real pinball tables had much harder hitting sound effects to reward the player. Zen rewards players with score aplenty but not as much with awesome sound effects. They really add to the experience.

Also I wish zen could bring a star wars themed table or something along the lines of the pinball 2000 machines. Zen just needs to make their tables get more in your face! lol

[clydebink]

I play Zen and Pinball Arcade most of the time. Every once in a while I'll search the iphone app store for pinball games. Most of them are really bad, but they often have interesting concepts. There's one where you defend the drain from zombies. One has a obese boss that walks around the playfield (doesn't work well). Hyper Pinball was horrible beyond belief, the flippers are tethered together.
Sometimes I get lucky: all of the Nena Innovation tables are worth playing. They understand some design principles and follow through well. I'm interested in playing the Da Vinci themed table by the developer that did War Pinball, but I haven't enjoyed any of that developer's previous tables. Blows my mind that there isn't an Angry Birds table.
Looking at failed attempts to innovate on pinball makes me appreciate Zen's ability to do it well.

[blacpain]

cool tip

I was fond of Visual pinball 5 years ago, but since a year, I really prefer Future pinball.

Table (re)creators have made so much progress ...

oh my gosh - terminator pinball !!! i used to play this and others classics in the days in the arcades. thats why i sneaked on Pinball Williams Collection, too (oh i see im the only one in here till yet).

[ER777]

I play both Zen's games and the FarSight's games (including PHoF) on the PS3. Right now I prefer Zen 2 over The Pinball Arcade but if TPA gets its gameplay issues worked out it could take over the lead for me. Its never going to be a choice of one or the other for me, I'm always going to play both as long as the devs continue to support them. If Creat supported Pinballistik I would give that a shot too, but it seems they've abandoned it. Based on the comments in this thread I might need to try a couple of these PC titles too, although I really prefer console gaming.

Its been a long time since I played a lot of physical pinball, just because tables (especially ones in good shape) are hard to find these days in my area. I used to play a decent amount back in the 90's when I worked in an Arcade for a while (back when Arcades still actually had pinball machines in them).

[chiralfox]

I voted for Pinball Arcade, because I prefer the design of real pinball machines over the Zen designs. That said, they're both excellent games. Zen is more stable and has fewer bugs. The new physics are nice. But the gameplay isn't anywhere nearly as exhilarating as a real pin. Part of what makes real pin designs so exciting is the level of risk and reward in each shot, at least in the more well-balanced games.

In my opinion then, Pinball Arcade has better pins to play, but it also has its share of problems. There are bugs, some merely silly or annoying, some game-breaking (had Ripley unable to locate the ball 80 million and 5 super jackpots in), and some that seem ridiculous but are actually part of the original ROM (Cirqus Voltaire, I'm looking at you).

I think the physics in each respective game fits the playstyle. Zen feels comfortable and is relatively easy to control. Pinball Arcade can be a little more unpredictable at times, and has the physics tuned to punish bad shots a fair amount of the time. Still not as a fast as a real machine, but it can still be enough to make recovery difficult. I enjoy the nuances of both (I have almost all of the tables for both games), but would love to see more accurate flipper physics. Can't have everything though.

However, real pins trump video pinball. And truth be told, when out playing live, I find myself enjoying EMs immensely over SS games as of late. Some people might find them boring, but the challenge of a single ball and no ramps or toys is actually very compelling.

[devilmosh]

I enjoy bouncing between Zen 2 and Pinball Arcade for the variations, but I definitely prefer the feel of Zen. As for others I enjoy on the PS3, I like Pinballistik though they seem to have dropped it after three tables, and PAIN has a fun pinball mode with a few tables.

[gorcorps]

I play both Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball Arcade on the Vita, and both have their merits. Pinball Arcade came first and because I was itching for some pinball I got it immediately and bought some tables. I never really noticed the "floaty" physics people complain about, but going back to it after Zen Pinball it does feel slower. Almost like the table isn't at the right angle but it's not really a game breaker. The biggest deal for me with TPA is the features they've promised by haven't delivered because they're too busy pumping out more DLC. Also, you can't demo tables on the Vita even though on other devices you can.

Here's my breakdown of the two:

The Pinball Arcade
Pros
+Very good recreations of favorite tables
+Easier to stomach 5.99 2-packs vs. 9.99 4-packs if you're focused on certain tables
+Decent selection of newer and classic tables
+More goals & trophys to shoot for per table (5 standard then 5 wizard goals)

Cons
-Slower "floaty" game
-Has had the challenge and tournament options there since the beginning, but still say "this mode will be active when more tables are released". Several DLC packs later it's still a broken promise.
-The older tables generally have terrible sound effects (as was the case during the time period) and aren't very fun (opinion). So I'm usually spending 5.99 for a 2-pack when I never touch the 2nd table after the first playthrough.
-No demos on the Vita version DLC (but I could get some demos via the Android version?)
-Pretty awful interface


Zen Pinball 2
Pros
+Original tables that take advantage of being video based and not a real table
+Closer to "realistic" ball physics
+Licensed tables make the missions seem more entertaining
+Despite having to buy 4-packs in some cases, none of the tables have been bad. I'll play all of them again even if there's some I like less than others.
+Good voice acting and sound effects makes original tables fun to play AND hear
+Very polished interface in comparison.
+Demos for everything give a decent sense of if I'll like it or not. (Though I wish the score limits were a tad higher. On some I reach the limit before being able to start a mission and really get a feel for a table.)

Cons
-Sometimes hard to stomach a 4-pack of tables when I only want 1 or 2.
-Only 2 goals per table limits replayability other than simple high score seeking
-Despite all the awesome stuff built into the tables, sticking with a monochromatic dot matrix score display seems like a HUGE missed opportunity. Yes it makes it seem more like a real pinball machine, but I like all the stuff that you can do simply because it ISN'T a real pinball machine.

Overall ZP2 is pretty much superior in all aspects. TPA is still worth having for the few tables you might really enjoy. For me, having Monster Bash on my Vita is absolutely worth the money.

[FourWinds]

I like The Pinball Arcade (even though I'm in England, and so on revision 1.not good).

The 'floaty physics' feel to me quite good; I do think it's looks a bit naff however when the ball is moving slowly, and it's clear that it's not rolling. I think that a pin'ball' needs to roll, or at least look like it might be.

Currently I prefer Zen, but if TPA (FarSight) got it's act together: fixed the bugs, stopped the ball flying through flippers, gave the EU some patches (and some F'ing DLC), made the ball roll; well...I might change my mind if that was all to happen. I don't think it will though; I think FarSight are trying to release tables, and patch too quickly without good enough QA. Either way I'm going to be buying all the tables from both Zen and FS: it's just too good of a gaming deal to miss (I get more fun from a £3 table than a £45 full modern game). Also, like I saw in some other post: if pin heads buy (and therefore support) all they can, it's only going to be good for all of us in the long run.

In answer to the original post: I play mostly at night. I also have an unfortunate habit of wanting to play when I've been drinking; this means I suck, and get angry all the time I loose a ball. The truth is that I'm pretty not good at pinball, but I like it a lot.